The Brits, on Tuesday, were the eighth country to ground the Boeing Max 737 — a model that crashed in Ethiopia on Sunday — but because the United States loves setting itself apart from the rest of the world the nation has yet to ground the aircraft with officials saying that they even refuse to do so, though there has been pressure applied by US lawmakers.
The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has said it will not suspend Boeing 737 Max aircraft despite mounting pressure from senators and workers’ unions. The FAA said a review showed “no systemic performance issues” and there is no basis for grounding the aircraft.
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On Tuesday, the European Union joined other nations in temporarily suspending the planes’ use in the wake of the crash — the second one in less than five months.
Some lawmakers, including Senators Richard Blumenthal, Mitt Romney, and Dianne Feinstein, have called for a grounding of the planes. Blumenthal said he told his family to switch planes if they’re scheduled to flight on a Max 8.
He sent a letter to Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines asking them to voluntarily ground the Max 8 and Max 9 planes.
“This is the only common sense measure until we have answers and can ensure passenger/crew safety,” he wrote.
Democrat presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren said that the FAA should follow other nations’ lead “immediately” and “get these planes out of the sky”.
Boeing has confirmed that for the past few months it has been developing a “flight control software enhancement” for the aircraft, but says it is confident they are safe to fly.
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